Choosing Your Freeride TrucksSection 2 of 5

2Choosing Truck Width
- Trucks for freeriding purposes tend to be sized at 180mm (10” from tip to tip)

1 Choosing Truck Design

Being that the trucks are the part of your board that actually make it a longboard and not just a good lookin’ plank of wood or bamboo, they’re pretty important! Luckily for us, skateboarding and longboarding as a discipline have been around for long enough to have some very functional designs. While most trucks feature a bushings suspension and turning system, some have springs, and other “progressive” elements to provide turning capabilities. We prefer the bushing style because the design is simple and they have stood the test of time.

Get Reverse Kingpin Trucks

Whether you've decided on a drop-through or drop-platform deck, the ideal style of truck for getting in to the freeride discipline is going to be what many refer to as a "longboarding truck" — a reverse kingpin truck like Randal, Paris, or Bear.

Baseplate Angle

For freeriding, some riders prefer to have a truck with a lower baseplate angle (40-45°) for stability, while others like the aggressive turn they feel from a baseplate with a higher baseplate angle (50-52°). The Muir crew prefers trucks in this higher range (50-52°) to give us the most power in forcing the wheels to break traction and initiate a slide.

Additional Info

What about "normal" skateboard trucks? Do you mean traditional kingpin trucks like Independent and the Surf Rodz INDeeSZ? Sure! If they're wide enough and the mounting holes match up correctly, they can be very fun. We'll consider these to be a more advanced choice for freeride trucks, so stick to the reverse kingpins that we've mentioned before.

2 Choosing Truck Width

The width of the truck should be as close to the width of the deck as possible to ensure proper performance. Look for a truck listed as 10" or 180mm (plus or minus a few millimeters will not drastically affect the performance so don’t worry about it).

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About MuirSkate Longboard Shop

We're a bunch of San Diego skaters in a warehouse, assembling your longboards by hand, making sure you get the best ride under your feet. Yes, we need to pay the rent, but we're in this to spread the stoke of skating as far and wide as we can.

Founded back in 2005, MuirSkate started out as a 400 sqft shop at UCSD's John Muir College. Now located in an independent warehouse, we sell high quality longboard skateboard gear and set the bar for best customer service.
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